Alina is a Family History Pioneer

Alla and Alina-two of our favorite people! Alina (on the right) is about 20 yrs old and is the Relief Society leader in the Balti Branch. She is setting the records as the first person in Moldova to do some of her geneology work, get it submitted, and go to the temple to do the ordinances for them. The very first! We are so proud of her!

80 Cinnamon Rolls for Branch Conference

Got the wild hair idea to make cinnamon rolls so since I never do anything except on a big scale I made 80 for after Branch Conference on Sunday. Kesli Aiken made some cinnamon twists too. I was supposed to make small rolls but I couldn't figure out how to make them small. I used the last of the brown sugar sent from Kathy VanWormer and started into the brown sugar bag from Julia VanWormer-do you see the bag in the photo?

The cinnamon rolls were VERY well received! It was a nice reward for all the folks that stayed for all 3 meetings because those that left early didn't get any. Sweet blessing for those who "endured to the end!"



After making 80 cinnamon rolls and having my hands in so much brown sugar I finally realized how to discribe the snow mixed with dirt that we walk on every day. It has such an unusual texture and color. Today I found the most accurate description: it has the definate texture of brown sugar. MMMM

Ion has "Come Unto Christ"!

Victor Ceban had the honor of baptizing Ion as he joined the fold of Christ. What a wonderful spirit they both have and they add so much to the branch.

Darling Hats & Boots for Hincesti Women's Shelter

Lilia from the Chisinau Branch donated about a dozen darling baby and toddler size hats. And we also had childrens boots that were too small for the Brindusa children. So we took the hats and the boots and gave them to the children at the Hincesti Womens Shelter. Most of the children were napping when we got there so we were not able to get very many photos.

Our 33rd Wedding Anniversary

We decided to go to the London Steakhouse in Chisinau to celebrate our anniversary. We had seen the huge banner/billboard/sign at the corner of Bucharest and Tighia so we went there. We went through the stonewall entrance to find a parking lot and an athletic stadium of some sort so obviously the signage was just advertising for the steakhouse. As we sat in our car at the entrance way we tried calling some English speaking friends to see if they knew where it was located but no one answered their phone. So Tom decided to GPS it. Guess what...it said we wereALREADY at the steakhouse! So we backed up and asked the gentleman in the little guardshack (they have them EVERYWHERE) and he pointed to the entrance of the steakhouse. It was a very subtle wood walkway that ran along the inside of the stone wall. We never saw it! The food was great! They even had a "real" porterhouse steak! And nicest of all was the waiter spoke English!